The weakest link for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 was their cornerbacks and secondary. As a whole, they played very poorly, so during this year's offseason, they made sure to fix it. From free agency to the 2023 NFL Draft, the Steelers made sure that this area of the defense looked completely different for 2023.
New Names To The Depth Chart Of The Steelers
Players like Patrick Peterson, Joey Porter Jr., Cory Trice Jr., and Chandon Sullivan bring new names to the depth chart of the Steelers. This change leaves very few familiar faces at cornerback. The two names that would sound familiar to fans are Levi Wallace and James Pierre. In fact, Pierre is now the longest-tenured cornerback for the Steelers.
Now going into his fourth season with the Steelers, Pierre has been keeping a tough mentality, even with all the new signings. Although he has been around the longest out of any Steelers cornerback, the team originally decided not to re-sign him at the start of free agency. It would not be until he became an unrestricted free agent that the team would sign him back at half of his original salary. In an interview with TribLive's Chris Adamski, he mentions that former Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton was the one who helped him go through this tough time during free agency.
"Just talking to Cam Sutton during the process, he just said to keep my head high," Pierre states going through free agency. "Just get back to some building and just get back to work. That’s what it’s mainly about, just getting back to work, staying around an opportunity, staying around the guys." He would then note, "When Pittsburgh called [back], I was ready to get back in the building."
Pierre has been a solid rotational piece for the Steelers over the last three years with 2021 being his best year. In 2021, he recorded 47 tackles along with an interception and three forced fumbles. This was a performance that went underappreciated. But Pierre would have no hard feelings over being underappreciated and even not getting the contract that he wanted this offseason.
"I don’t get into that stuff. I just want to play ball at the end of the day, so that’s what I was focusing on: just playing ball."
Pierre seems to be almost a "ghost" on the field as people tend to forget about the Steelers even having him. He has appeared in all 50 games that he was a part of since joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He would show up in about 30% of snaps over the last two years and could increase that in 2023.
In 2023, you may see Pierre take on more of a leadership role with the Steelers, even though he is only 26 years old. Although he has been mainly used as a special teams guy, he has pushed to be the best version of himself. Even as he is working hard, he isn't taking a thing for granted as he knows it can be taken from him at any moment.
"Never get comfortable — that’s one thing ‘Coach T’ [Mike Tomlin] always teaches us," Pierre said. "Never get comfortable or get complacent. Every day, get better.’ And just every day I come in, I am going to get better, just being on the field."
It will be the leadership of this team and these hidden "ghosts" that make the Steelers contenders in 2023. With many secret players like Pierre that are poised to have a breakout year, who are you most excited for, Steeler Nation? Who do you think will be the Steelers' gem of 2023?
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